Caregivers: Italy's new pillars. There are nearly 2 million of them, mostly foreigners.

ROLE OF CARERS IN ITALY –

It's the great avalanche of a society where lifespan has lengthened, but also dragged along an exponential increase in difficult old age. In Italy, approximately 800,000 people are affected by Alzheimer's , and of these, nearly 90 percent are cared for at home, by their families. The number could double within a few decades, and there are still no real and effective treatments for the dying neurons, only palliative drugs that can, in some cases, slow the progression of the disease, which is destined to last from three to twenty years. An elderly person affected by a neurodegenerative disease needs everything . They must be cared for, 24 hours a day, they cannot be left alone, and someone must feed them at mealtimes and help them go to the bathroom. In their eyes, sometimes lost in the void, there is always a glimmer of a longing for companionship, for connections that are fading in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Thus, in many Italian families, carers have become central, essential : we have 1 million 655 thousand of them, and they have grown by 53 percent in the last ten years . Who are they? Mostly women (82,4 percent), foreigners (77,3 percent), and aged between 36 and 50 (56,8 percent).

ALSO READ: Eco-condominiums: saving money by sharing services

THE CARER, THE NOVEL BY MATTEO COLLURA –

And a caregiver is the protagonist of a novel by Matteo Collura (La badante. Edizioni Longanesi) that opens a window, with a series of twists and turns, onto the microcosm of a family hit by the avalanche of a difficult old age. Professor Italo Gorini, a cultured, ironic man with a brilliant mind, lives in a wheelchair, wanders around the house, occasionally goes out, and has built his own universe of observation and memories. A widower, the professor is cared for, almost enveloped, by the affection of his sister Maddalena, his sister-in-law Giorgina, and his son Desiderio. This is Gorini's microcosm: the warmth of a family trying to warm the chill of an advanced and dark life, without prospects, dreams, and with the awareness that the lack of self-sufficiency is a defeat of the human body that can last a long time. A very long time. But at the center of the professor's small world aren't his close relatives, but rather her, the beautiful and diligent caregiver Paula Grigorescu. A seemingly coincidental connection, though in reality it isn't, links the pasts of the elderly and ailing man and his young assistant: both lived in Libya before fleeing after the arrival of Colonel Gaddafi, who effectively expelled all foreigners, starting with the Italians, from the country.

In the darkness of the professor's fading life, a light suddenly comes on, a flash. Desire, and even sexual pleasure, resurfaces with singular intensity for a man confined to a wheelchair. Gorini wants to possess Paula and, after some hesitation, begins to court her, even making obscene advances. All are rebuffed, gracefully and almost with pity, by the caregiver, who refuses to give in to her employer's pressure and barricades herself behind the presence of a phantom boyfriend. The story unfolds almost as if it were a miserable truism, with Italo Gorini's family providing a backdrop to his decline and ultimate defeat, until two dramatic turns of events occur. The first is the professor's subtle attempt to transfer his desire to possess the caregiver to his son. Thus, Desiderio is invited, with paternal authority, to seduce Paula, as if in this way Italo could gain revenge for the woman's refusal. But it's another defeat, even more stinging, because this time it's the son who rebels, offended and outraged, against his father's sinister designs. The second, even more dramatic, twist comes when the professor, furious at the series of losing battles, decides to fire Paula, and when he tells him, he learns that she is actually his daughter. The fruit of a night of sex in Tripoli, with a woman he's never heard from again. From that moment, the sick old man returns to his old age and his pain, with a mysterious joy, a new, authentic love, born of the discovery of his second daughter. Thus, a new family is born, with two brothers, whom he will accompany until the end of Italo Gorini's story (we'll leave that to the readers).

THE FIGURE OF CARERS IN ITALIAN FAMILIES –

Returning to caregivers in Italy today, to their irreplaceable role, and to their predictable growth (the number of family caregivers will rise to over 2.1 million by 2030), it's worth noting that these figures are no longer considered solely for their professionalism, for the care and assistance they provide in the face of a state that is completely absent from the protection of non-self-sufficient elderly people. No, caregivers are now integral parts of our families . Just like in Italo Gorini's home.

TO KNOW MORE: Neighbors: Only 1 in 3 say hello. While shared housing saves 1600 euros.